St. Mary's gains playoff momentum with victory

St. Mary's did what it needed to do coming off a loss last week against Stagg.

The Record

St. Mary's did what it needed to do coming off a loss last week against Stagg.

And though the Rams don't own the Tri-City Athetlic League title, they feel good entering the playoffs after a 53-14 win over McNair on senior night at Sanguinetti Field.

Senior Marcus Lomas ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, and senior Kaleb Parrish went 6 for 9 for 59 yards with a touchdown, ran the ball five times for 27 yards and two touchdowns, and caught a pass for 38 yards to finish his senior regular season.

Like several coaches, Tony Franks believes his team hasn't played its best game yet this season.

"If we play to our capabilities, we're a very good team and very tough to beat," said Franks, who will find out his team's Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoff position on Saturday. "We know if we muster it up and put it together, we'll be a tough team to deal with."

At Escalon, the Cougars (6-4, 4-2 Trans Valley League) held the Bruins (3-7, 0-6) to 57 yards and had six sacks and caused three turnovers in their regular-season finale. Escalon coach Mark Loureiro had 13 players carry the ball at least once, and eight different players reached the end zone.

Tyler Lawrence had a 4-yard touchdown run and a 19-yard TD catch from Ben Hood, who also had an 18-yard TD to Jacob Salvador.

"I have yet to think we've played our best game," Loureiro said. "As I look back, maybe we're a little better than I think, looking at the teams we played and their records. Maybe iron sharpened iron."

Among the Cougars's losses were Hilmar (10-0), Ripon (9-1) and Patterson (9-1).

The Sac-Joaquin Section football playoff brackets will be revealed Saturday.

At Tuolumne, Bailey Wright ran for 149 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries to help the Lions (5-5, 2-3 Mother Lode League) end the regular season with their second win in three games. Wright opened the scoring with a 30-yard run, Eddie Murarik had a 41-yard TD run and Omar Juarez kicked a 37-yard field goal to close the scoring. Summerville finished the season 2-8 overall, 1-4 in the MLL. Linden will find out its playoff fate on Saturday.

At Jackson, Amador (9-1, 4-1 MLL) scored the deciding points on a safety when a snap went out of the end zone with 9:05 left in the third quarter. Donald White led the Buffaloes with 69 yards on 16 carries and scored on an 8-yard run. Caleb Patrick put Argonaut (5-5, 3-2) ahead 7-0 in the first quarter with a 2-yard run and had 54 yards on 10 carries.

At Lincoln, Austin Caldron completed 15 of 25 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns for the Knights (7-3, 5-0 Central California Athletic Alliance). He also rushed 10 times on Millenium (5-5, 2-3) for 71 yards and a score. Blake Smallie had two catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Lee Johnson had eight rushes for 97 yards and a touchdown.

At San Andreas, Danny Gilmore led the Redskins (8-2, 5-0 MLL) with 114 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Mike Seawell had 10 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown. Seawell also caught a 60-yard pass from Justin Thornburg. Bret Harte (1-8, 0-5) scored on a 3-yard run by Eric Diep.

At Sierra, Jake Pruitt led the Timberwolves (7-3, 5-2 Valley Oak League) with 287 yards passing on 18 of 25 completions. He had four touchdowns and one interception. Hunter Johnson had five catches for 138 yards and a score. Marcus Moore ran for a 50-yard touchdown and threw a 69-yard TD to Erron Duncan for Weston Ranch (3-7, 2-5).

At Lathrop, the Jaguars (5-5, 4-3 VOL) have a slight glimmer of hope at making the playoffs, but their loss in Week 10 to Sonora might have sealed their fate. Nevertheless, senior Gaige Allen scored twice, Rashaad Cooper had a touchdown, and running back Jariel Bolusan, who has been in Kimball's program for four seasons, scored his first touchdown.

At Chavez, Darrin Gentry caught four touchdowns, all from Julius Davila, and intercepted a pass and returned it for a TD, and had two more touchdowns called back for the Titans (2-8, 1-4 SJAA). Priest Jennings had a touchdown run for Chavez.